Burton Adkinson

Burton Adkinson

Burton Adkinson (1909-2004) was an American geographer, librarian and information science program officer.

Life

Burton Wilbur Adkinson was born March 5, 1909 in Everson, WA. He worked as a geographer at the Department of State, the Department of the Interior, and the OSS during World War II. While he was Director of the Reference Department, he established the Division of Science and Technology within the Department, reorganized the Division for the Blind, initiated a research program dealing with "talking books," established punched-card control of loans to federal employees, and developed bibliographies and information projects for other government agencies. While he worked at the National Science Foundation (NSF), he became concerned with the publication, retrieval, storage, and exchange of information within the nation as well as internationally.

He continued his education at the University of Washington, and in 1942, he received his Ph.D. in physical geography from Clark University. His obituary is located in the Seattle Times.

He died September 15, 2004.

Contributions

Adkinson worked at the Office of Geography, Dept. of State 1942-43; Assistant Director, U.S. Bd. of Geographical Names 1943-44; Assistant Chief Map Intelligence Section, Map Division, OSS 1944-45; Library of Congress: Assistant Chief, Acting Chief, Map Division 1945-47; Chief 1947-49; Director, Reference Dept., Library of Congress 1949-57; Head of Office of Science Information, NSF, 1957-1970; Director, American Geographical Society 1971-1973; consultant to various organizations.

Publications

• Two centuries of Federal information. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, 1978. Appendices include a chronology and excerpts from significant reports.

Offices

• International Federation of Documentation (FID). President, 1963-65.
• Special Libraries Association. Treasurer 1954-56, President, 1959-60.
• Association Society of Geographers. Secretary 1954-57; Director, 1970-73.

Awards

• International Federation for Documentation (FID). Centennial Medallion, 1995.
• American Society of Geographers. Fellow, 1944- .

Further reading

• [Festschrift honoring Burton W. Adkinson.] Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 22, Issue 1 (Oct/Nov 1995): 11-16. [1] Contains:
  • "In Honor of Burton W. Adkinson" by
• "Burton Adkinson Obituary." The Seattle Times Sep. 28, 2004. [2]

Papers

• University of Wyoming, Library, Special Collections Division. Mostly about his research on geology.